


Tonight I'll Need You to Stay

by Emejig16



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Angst and Fluff, I wasn't sure if the violence was classified as graphic but I still put the warning on, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Violence, death mention, its very mild/semi graphic violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3803992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emejig16/pseuds/Emejig16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The year is 2109, but it isn’t the 2109 that had been envisioned over a century ago. Death and destruction were widespread, and well Phil, Dan and their friends are just trying to survive</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tonight I'll Need You to Stay

**Author's Note:**

> This is a loosely based songfic to the song "The Run and Go" by 21 Pilots. Thank you to maetaurus for betaing this fic. I really hope you guys ail like it, because it's one of my personal favorites!
> 
> As all of the other fics I have posted here, all fics were originally posted on tumblr.

The year was 2109, but it wasn't the 2109 that had been envisioned over a century ago. 

The world had changed so much in such a short amount of time. The days where they sun shone, the grass was a vibrant green, mighty buildings and monuments marked the great cities, and when there was peace on Earth were long forgotten. They were merely just ancient ruins in the history of mankind. 

Mankind had always been on a never ending cycle of destruction and reconstruction. The last generation thought they'd seen it all, but then the following ones saw more. 

Everyone on the planet thought that if they learned from the last fall they could prevent another, which proved true for almost a century. Every bloody battle that decimated populations and tore apart governments and stability could be prevented. People believed that humans had finally evolved from their ancestors and that pure peace had been finally restored.

That was until the Third, and final, Great War on Earth broke out.

It had been more than a century since the last Great War. Of course there had been uneasy peace throughout the interim time. The world had come onto the brink of the extinction right after the war had ended and there had been a lot of smaller scale wars to "keep peace", but nothing that greatly affected life on Earth.

That didn't happen until the year 2047.

None of the world powers saw it coming and there was no way to predict it but when that first bomb dropped, everything changed. All of the major countries were quick to retaliate. It was never confirmed which country dropped the first one, but it was the only spark that was needed.

The war was quick compared to its predecessors but the damage was incomparable. Cities and towns were leveled, fields destroyed, and whole populations were lost. Miles and miles of scorched land covered the Earth. Clouds of dust and ash blocked out the sun for weeks following. 

Those who were lucky enough to survive may as well have been dead. Starvation, famine, and disease plagued what was left of many communities.

The damage was catastrophic. Governments all across the globe didn't know where to begin. There was too much destruction and too many displaced people to recover like the had in year in the past. So the leaders did what they knew how to do best: reorganized the way society worked and ran. The remaining populations were regrouped by what skills they had and small towns were set up.

Over the next fifty years, these small communities rebuilt the cities that had been decimated. They restarted the agriculture, rekindled and advanced the sciences, set up a new government, instituted education, and left the tools necessary for the next generations to survive.

Things weren't perfect, but once again there was peace on Earth. Life continued to a steady flow and rhythm, but with every great new system, comes those who disagreed with it.

In the new cities of the world, a group known as Venom, was on the rise. What had started off as typical gang violence got worse, threatening life as everyone knew it. They burned buildings, kidnapped people, and much worse. Although Venom was ruthless, they didn't dare touch those of the fighting class.

The mighty fighting class were the warriors of the future. They'd been raised as assassins, soldiers and other people that weren't afraid snap a neck if they had to.

Phil was lucky enough to have been born into an elite fighting class family. For a majority of his life, he was away from the destruction and the terror. At the same time, he was being raised to be an unrelenting, stealth soldier. He was at the top of his class and the best fighter in all of London but he was still too young to be put at the head of the platoon he was in. 

And he thanked his lucky stars that he had been too young at the time.

All over the planet, Venom had been growing power, ready to take apart the world once again. They had raised a big military and naval force that none of the new big cities were prepared for.

In the year 2104, there was an all out ambush on London. Bombs were dropped in the heart of the city and ground forces equipped with grenades, flamethrowers, and far more ammunition than could ever been matched decimated civilians areas

Naturally, the government ordered to send out it troops, completely unaware of what they were up against.

Mass hysteria and chaos broke out in London. People tried to evacuate but were caught in the cross fire between the Venom and fighting forces of the Royal London Fighting Force.

Phil was just a cadet at the time, but had the skills of much higher rank. His platoon was sent out into the middle of battle, but the attack failed and Phil watched all of his fellow soldiers die. 

He's never told anyone about the horrors he saw that day.

All of the dead bodies, collapsed buildings, and blood. The screams of those he could not save haunted his dreams for years afterwards. Phil remembered sprinting back to his home after the smoke settled, revealing he was the only one left. He'd repressed the cold dead eyes of his father and the sight of his mother and brother laying in a pool of blood. He'd fought back the tears then and always did afterwards.

The only thing on Phil's mind from that day onwards was survival. Once again, the days of organized humanity were at their end. He knew this time there was no going back to the force only to be sent out to his possible death again. He could fend for himself.

As Phil escaped, he found his friends PJ and Carrie huddled in an alleyway and brought them along with him in the search for a base; a new place for them to call home.

Unfortunately it wasn't that simple. The three of them were always on the go, constantly gathering up supplies and weapons while searching for a permanent place to stay. 

They ran and ran for weeks. Constantly posting up behind walls and picking Venom off. It was savagery, but it was life. It was fight and kill, or die, and as awful as life was, dying wasn't an option.

It took them two months to find a home and even when the they did, it required Phil to shoot two men and stab another. The only good thing about securing this particular place, was the three of them had a bit of help. The people they would come to know as Tom, Jack, Chris, and Louise were also trying to secure they area, so they decided they'd better just team up.

The seven of them became a family. Phil was the head of them, purely because he had the ability to be so nonchalant about everything and had the fighting skills to take down anything that threatened them. They took care of one another and all had their own special skill set that helped them thrive in the war torn city.

Five years later, the seven  _(now eight)_  of them were still living in that base. The fact that the world their grandparents had worked to establish was literally being torn apart by ruthless anarchists, and the fact that the government was folding were the  _least_  of their problems for now. 

Phil walked into the family room of their base.

"We need supplies. Who's coming with me?" Phil asked as he put on his coat.

"But there's supposed to be a raid going on," Tom commented.

"Yeah, you can't go out there," Jack added.

"Well unless we all want to die of thirst and starvation, we're going to have to," Phil said as he reloaded his gun. "Think about it, this is only the start of it, and with people out of the way, it should be fairly easy. After they're done eviscerating the city, who knows how long it will be until we can reach these items again? I don't know about you, but I'm not taking chances." 

Chris exchanged a look with Pj.

"Seriously you guys?" Phil said in disbelief. 

"I'll go with you," Dan said standing up.

Phil's face fell. Dan was the youngest and most recent addition to their little family. He would never admit it, but he had a soft spot for Dan. He would never let himself live it down if something were to happen to him, so he was always very cautious with where he went with him. Everything he did, he did to keep Dan away from the same horrors he saw. Dan was too sweet, too confident for the harsh world.

"Dan you're not–" Phil started.

"You're not going alone and these guys don't want to, but I want to so let's go," Dan said with a little bit more confidence. 

"The outside is going to be crawling with Venom," Phil said as he picked up his knife.

"Yeah, and I'm not going to let you go alone." Dan said, walking up to Phil. He looked into Phil's eyes. Even though everyone else was slightly afraid of Phil because of his pure skill, Dan did not fall for it. He knew that behind his icy blue stare was a big teddy bear that cared way too about the safety of his family, him especially. 

“Please," Dan said softly.

Phil sighed. He knew he couldn't talk Dan out of not going with him. He was just afraid that he wasn't going to be enough to keep Dan safe. Every time he looked at him, he still saw the unconscious fifteen year old he carried back to base three years ago.

\- - -

_Phil was eighteen at the time. He had been out looking for things he could salvage. There had been a bad bombing and shelling of the community not far from where Phil's new base was._

_He hated going into people's abandoned homes for the things they needed, but it was his best bet. There was no way anyone was still alive over there after all of that noise._

_When Phil entered the community he went for whatever homes he could get into, picking off various items: Aspirin, blankets, canned foods, dry foods, bottles of water, and a few delicacies. It was amazing how things changed. Two years ago, this wouldn't have been okay, but now it was whatever it took to stay alive._

_It seemed as though everyone had evacuated, but then Phil heard a woman calling for help. He couldn't tell for sure, but he knew it was coming from down the road. Phil jogged down the road and to this day, he's not sure how he managed to stay calm._

_The woman that was calling him was trapped underneath a collapsed house._

_"Sir, please help," she said desperately._

_Phil jogged up to her. "I'm going to help you alright?" Phil said trying to figure out if he could even pull her out._

_"No, not me. My son," the lady said pointing to a pile of rubble._

_"But–" Phil started._

_"Please save my son. I am of no use; my legs have been crushed. But my son, please save him sir," she begged._

_Phil bit his lip and ran over to the pile of wood. He tossed them out of the way, determined to find the boy. He removed one more plank of wood and found him laying there. Phil scooped up the boy and ran back over to the lady._

_"Is this him?" Phil asked softly._

_She nodded, "Yes, take him far away from here. Please."_

_Phil nodded. He took the backpack that was on the lady's son off of him and added it to his stuff. He also picked up the duffle bag and hooked it around his arm. Phil picked up the boy, carrying him bridal style._

_"I'll take care of him," Phil said._

_"God bless you, kind sir. Now go, before any of them come back," the lady said._

_Phil carried the boy's limp body for nearly three miles until he got back to their base. The boy wasn't heavy, but he wasn't light either. His legs felt like they were going to give out as he stumbled into the base._

_"Phil?" Carrie questioned._

_"I'll explain," Phil said as he took the boy to his room. He laid him down on his bed and pulled the blanket over him. He ran his hand through the boy's brown hair; he was going to be okay.  Phil let out a heavy breath and walked back to the living room/kitchen to deal with Carrie._

_“Phil, we barely have enough supplies for us. We can't add another person," Carrie said in a sad tone._

_"I know, but I wouldn't have bothered bringing him here if I didn't think he was going to be valuable to us," Phil said as he took off all of the bags he was carrying._

_"Phil–" Carrie started._

_"Carrie you don't get it. I couldn't leave him behind," Phil said sternly._  If she would've looked past the authoritative voice and into his sad blue eyes, she would've understood that it was more than just saving a life. It was about saving the boy from the horror of seeing his only loved one dead, and then finding out that he was all alone like he'd been. _Phil picked up the bags that were on the boy and opened them up._

_"I get it. He was alive and you felt the need to save him, but it's hard Phil. There are shortages of everything," Carrie argued._

_Phil gasped as he looked at the contents of the bags._

_"No, but I think I made a really good decision. Come look," he said. The bag was filled to the brim medical equipment, bandages, medicine, and generally everything they were lacking if one of them was to get hurt or sick."_

_"Oh my god!" Carrie exclaimed. "He's of the healing class. Did you know that?"_

_"Honestly, no," Phil admitted sheepishly._

_"I take everything back. Make sure he's okay," Carrie said._

\- - - 

Phil sighed, "Fine. Grab your jacket, backpack, and your knives okay?" 

Dan smiled and gave a quick nod, "Okay!"

Phil couldn't help but grin a little. He took a deep breath. Tonight, he could not be reckless. Aside from getting the things they needed, keeping Dan unharmed was his top priority. A part of Phil knew Dan would be fine, after all he did teach him how to fight with knives and hand to hand combat.

After a few more preparations, Dan and Phil were ready to go. Both of them had scarves on incase they needed to shield themselves from harmful air.

"We won't be gone long but in the meantime, make sure you get that container filled with water," Phil ordered.

“Okay," Chris responded.

"Come on Dan, let's go," Phil said. He placed his hand on Dan's lower back, guiding him out of the base. They walked up the stairs and out into the evening.

Phil stopped walking and scanned the area; the coast was clear. "Let's move," Phil said to Dan. The two of them jogged down the street and down a few back alleys. There was a place in particular Phil knew they'd find supplies, but it was bound to be crawling with Venoms. 

"Phil where are we going?" Dan asked quietly. 

"To the recently abandoned Tescos shop."

Dan's eyes widened, "But that place is huge."

"Don't worry, we're going to the smaller one. Come on," Phil said, grabbing Dan's hand. He felt Dan squeeze his hand a bit and he turned to him gave him a smile. The two of them kept walking until they approached the shop.

"Stay behind me," Phil ordered quietly. They tiptoed into the shop. They'd barely walked five steps when Phil stopped Dan. Phil looked around the dark shop. It was quiet, _too quiet._

And without a moment to spare, Phil pulled out his gun and shot the guy to his left straight through the middle of his head. Phil knew he'd heard breathing. 

"Get food. I'll get the water since it's further away. Stay safe…they're in here," Phil whispered before walking off to another part of the shop

Dan bit his lip. He could handle this, he just needed to stay calm. He walked down the aisle, picking out various canned foods, energy bars, and other beneficial dry foods. He was just about to move to another aisle when he heard two more gunshots followed by the grunt of a man. 

He turned the corner and went to the aisle, unaware that someone was following him.

"Dan!" Phil yelled from around the corner. He'd seen the person turn the corner with him.

Dan turned around, swiftly grabbing his knife and chucking it right in the middle of the person's head. The person fell to the ground with a thud. Dan jogged over to the person and pulled the knife out of their head.

Phil quickly shoved as much water as he could into his bag. This place was not safe at all. There were only a few Venom members here, but that meant there were a lot more outside. Once he'd stuffed his bag with as much water that would fit, Phil jogged all over the shop trying to find Dan. Of course he found him in the medical area, quickly putting in various items.

Phil tapped Dan on the shoulder, which was a bad move because he instantly pulled a knife on him. He'd trained Dan better than he thought.

"Bear it's me," Phil said.

"Oh god, you startled me Phil," Dan said as he put away his knife.

"Sorry. We've got to get out of here…the place is crawling with Venom," Phil said urgently.

"Okay, let's go," Dan agreed.

Dan and Phil left the Tescos shop. They were going to have to building hop back to base; having to go in and out of buildings, slowly traversing the city without being out in the open constantly. 

They'd successfully made it half way back home without any major run-ins, but then they entered an apartment they probably shouldn't have. Phil should've known better, he should've seen the graffiti that belonged to Venom.

"Just please stay here. I'm going to make sure it's clear," Phil commanded as he delved deeper into the flat. Phil made it to just about the family room when he heard the cock of a gun. 

Phil immediately pulled out his knife, the silver metal hitting the light.

He heard a cynical chuckle. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to bring a knife to a gun fight?" one of them said.

"Oh well in that case–" Phil said. He pulled out his gun and fired three perfect shots, cutting down three men. He broke out into a sprint and rolled across the counter as they opened fire.

Dan gasped at the sound of the gun fire. Phil was in there all alone. He had to go help him, but Phil had told him to stay put.

Phil crouched back down and reloaded his gun. He was going to run out of ammo. He hadn't been planning on using his gun this much.

Dan watched unsure of what to do. It was one against five. He couldn't just sit there and watch Phil struggle. He may not have been as skilled as Phil, but he had something.

A few minutes later, Phil ran out of bullets. “Fuck," he muttered to himself. Looks like he was going manual. Phil left his post behind the counter and hit one of the gunmen with the back of his gun. 

"Phil, duck!" Dan called.

A knife just grazed the top of Phil's head before going straight into the chest guy that was coming up behind him. Phil pulled out his knife and stabbed the guy he'd hit with the gun in the stomach.

"Dan what did I say?" Phil hissed as he punched a guy.

"I'm sorry. You looked like you needed a bit of help," Dan said as he kicked the guy that was running into him and stabbed another coming from the other side.

Phil rolled his eyes. He knocked the gun out of the man's hand and punched him in the face. The Venom tried to punch him, but he dodged it. He stuck his knife right in the man's stomach and pushed him up against the wall.

"What was that comment about bringing a knife to a gun fight?" Phil questioned through gritted teeth. He was twisting the knife a bit. "Oh that's right, you always do," he quipped as he pulled it out. Phil directed his attention to the next Venom.

As Phil fought, he kept an eye out for Dan. He kept seeing him dodge hits and working his knives. Phil was impressed, Dan had impeccable aim. He'd turned him into a little assassin. The thought warmed Phil's heart in an odd way.

In the meantime, Dan was in hand to hand combat with another. He'd dealt some pretty hard blows and dodged a few, but he'd also received a couple of bad ones himself. Dan tried to hold the guy off and get him in a position where he could knife him, but he couldn't. Dan got punched in the face and then flipped to the ground with a hard thud.

"Dan!" Phil cried out. He tossed his knife into the back of the head of the Venom. He then felt a searing pain at the top of his thigh and then another one in his side. The Venom he was fighting had cut him. Phil crumpled to the ground in pain. 

Dan scrambled for the gun that was lying on the ground and shot the Venom that had stabbed Phil. He dropped the weapon and jogged over to Phil.

"Oh no Phil," Dan said as he crouched down. He wrapped his arms around him. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine. I swear," Phil spluttered keeping his hand firmly pressed down on his thigh. The guy had cut him deep, he could feel it.

Dan looked down at Phil's leg. Oh god that was a lot of blood. He quickly whipped off his backpack and grabbed the extra bandages he kept on him. 

“Dan, I said I'm fine," Phil protested.

"Shut up, no you're not," Dan asserted, trying to hold back his tears as he propped Phil up against the wall. He wrapped Phil's leg and a place where he'd been cut on his stomach. It wasn't good, but it would have to do until they got back to base. It would help clot the blood a bit, but at the rate blood was pouring out of Phil's wounds, he wasn't sure this was going to do anything. 

Dan put his bag back on and stood. He helped Phil up, but he could barely walk. 

"Use me as support. We need to move. I think I can hear the raid sirens going off," Dan said hooking Phil's arm around his shoulder. On any given day, Dan was no where near strong enough to support Phil's weight, but driven by the force to get Phil back to take care of him, he did it with little to no sweat.

He and Phil hobbled their way back to base. The only thing keeping Dan from collapsing was the reminder that Phil carried him for three miles. Phil has saved his life, and goddammit he was going make sure he saved Phil's.

Dan brought one of the Venom's guns with him, shooting down everything in path. He was determined to bring himself and Phil back to base in one piece. Dan burst through the entrance to the base, nearly in tears. He could not let his emotions get the best of him now, Phil needed him.

"Someone get me a bucket of clean water and a flannel now," Dan called urgently as he dragged Phil to their room. He rested Phil on the bed and pulled out his first aid kit.

"Phil, Phil?" Dan said in a hushed tone, lightly tapping his face. He was so pale.

"Dan, Dan I'm fine. I swear, " Phil said in a faint voice. "Don't worry about me, it's just a scratch." 

"Shut up, oh my god shut up. Can you for once just please stop trying to act like everything is always alright with you?" Dan said as he fumbled around in his bag.

"Here's the water and flannel. Do you need anything else?" Louise asked, handing the bucket to him.

"No, I don't think so but I'll call if I do," Dan said, trying to calm himself down.

Dan grabbed the pillow off of his bed and used it to prop Phil's leg up. He lifted up Phil's shirt to examine the cut there. It wasn't too bad; all he needed to do was clean it up and bandage it properly. He then directed his attention to Phil's thigh.

Phil flinched as he felt Dan start to undo the soaked bandages he'd put on earlier. He heard Dan gasp.

"Is it bad?" Phil asked.

"It's deep," Dan mumbled almost emotionlessly. He dipped the flannel in water, lightly dabbing the cut to try and clean up some of the blood. Dan bit his lip as he continued to look at it. The wound was going to need stitches. Dan reached under his bed and grabbed the box filled with special equipment for times like this. He pulled out the stitching set.

"Phil…I'm going to have to stitch it," Dan said shakily as he threaded the needle.

"Okay, do what you have to," Phil responded.

Dan's hands were shaking as he held the needle. He'd only ever done this one time and that was with his mother's help. He wasn't sure if he could do this. He picked up the bottle of antiseptic and dabbed a bit onto a piece of cotton.

"This is going to sting," Dan warned before wiped down the cut, listening to Phil hiss in pain.

He picked up the needle once again and stared at it. He had to do this. The cut wasn't going to heal if he didn't man up and do it. Dan got the needle closer to the cut. He bit his lip and looked away as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"Phil I-I..I don't t-trust myself to d-do this…" Dan stuttered as more tears rolled down his cheeks.

Phil closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I trust you." 

"W-What?" Dan questioned, looking at Phil.

"Do it…I'll be fine. What's a little pain to me?" Phil said with a faint chuckle.

Dan smiled weakly as he picked up another flannel. If Phil trusted him, then he trusted himself.

"Open your mouth," Dan directed. Phil did as he said and ended up with the flannel in his mouth. He gave Dan a puzzled look. "Bite down. This is going to hurt a bit."

Dan took a deep breath and used the back of his hands to wipe his eyes. "Hold on a second, I need to wash my hands first," he mumbled. Dan walked to the bathroom and pulled himself together as he scrubbed his hands.

By the time Dan came back, he was calm and collected. He kneeled down by Phil's thigh and picked the needle back up. He slid it into Phil's thigh, pulling the thread through. Phil whimpered slightly and bit down harder on the flannel.

It took Dan almost an hour to finish stitching Phil's leg. If he was a professional and if this was a proper hospital, it would've only taken him twenty minutes. But Dan was high on nerves and wanted to make sure he did not mess up a single stitch.

Once Dan had finished with Phil's leg, he went about cleaning up all of Phil's other wounds and bandaging them nicely for him. 

"Thank you bear," Phil said as Dan put a plaster on his forehead.

"No problem. Thank you for saving my butt back there. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this mess. I should've stayed back like you wanted," Dan said sadly.

Phil frowned, "No. This isn't your fault. Don't put this on yourself."

"But it's true. If I had just stayed back like you'd wanted…" Dan said his voice trailing. He could feel tears spilling down his cheeks. 

"Dan–" Phil said reaching out to him, but Dan moved away. 

"I'm sorry," Dan mumbled, sniffling a bit

Dan turned away, putting away his medical equipment and putting the needle he used in disinfectant to keep everything sanitary. He left out a few plasters and disinfectant for the few cuts he had.

"Dan please come here, and bring the plasters," Phil pleaded softly. 

Dan picked up the plasters and disinfectant and sat on the edge of Phil's bed.

"Closer please," Phil said, sitting up better. He took the items from Dan and opened up the bottle of disinfectant. He poured a little on the cotton Dan didn't use. He dabbed it onto all of the cuts Dan had gotten.

"You know why I worry right?" Phil mused as he cleaned Dan's wounds, like Dan had taught him.

"I guess," Dan said wiping his eye.

Phil smiled and opened one of the plasters. "I'm scared. You may find that hard to believe, but I'm always scared. Especially for you; I don't know what I'd do if something bad happened to you." Dan averted Phil's eyes with guilt.

"But tonight, I was a little less scared. I knew you were a good fighter and that we'd be fine," Phil continued.

"But your leg," Dan said sadly.

"Never mind my leg. That was my fault not yours. I shouldn't have worried; you could handle your fight," Phil said as he put another plaster on Dan.

"I'm sorry I made you worry." Dan mumbled.

"Don't be. I always worry because I had to struggle on my own and I don't want you to have to. I want you to know that you always have me and I always want to have you," Phil said tilting Dan's chin up. "You look tired," he commented as he looked at Dan's brown eyes. They were still as vibrant as the first day they opened.

Dan let out a soft yawn. "Kind of," he mumbled.

“Come on, let's get some rest," Phil said softly, extending his arms for Dan. Dan blushed as he wrapped his arms around Phil and laid down with him. He rested his head against Phil's chest, careful not to bump his leg since he knew it would be tender. 

Phil ran his hand through Dan's hair and let out a soft sigh, "Everything is going to be just fine bear."

Dan snuggled into Phil a bit more and smiled. Phil was so great. He was literally the reason why he was still alive today. Aside from his tough soldier exterior, he was so nice, sweet, and affectionate. Dan didn't think Phil was as open with anyone else in the flat.

The two managed to fall asleep for a bit. About an hour or so later, Phil stirred a bit and opened his eyes. He couldn't help but crack a small grin at the sleeping boy on top of him. Phil kissed the top of Dan's head and tightened his grip around him.

"Thanks for staying," he whispered.

“Thanks for letting me.” Dan mumbled back.

They were both drifting back to sleep when they heard the raid sirens go off louder, meaning bombs had been dropped. It looked like neither of them were going to be sleeping.

"Phil, can you tell me the story about the last bomb dropping again,” Dan mumbled. 

"Of course I can," Phil said as he rubbed Dan's back.

"As you know, the Final Great War on Earth was brutal. The existing ways of life and all forms of establishment were practically eradicated. Life seemed hopeless. Fires raged, buildings fell, and no one was doing anything to help recover.

"The bombing was endless, the suffering was endless, and it seemed as though the war was endless. Optimism wasn't a word in people's vocabulary. That was, until the day the world went silent. The last thing people had heard was the sound of a bomb dropping.

"Dust and ash clouded the sky like always. Glass cascaded down from windows that had been broken, but then something peculiar happened afterwards. Once the ash and dust had cleared the sky, the typical cloudy sky wasn't left. Rather, a vibrant blue sky emerged from behind the clouds of black. 

"And what was more surprising is that the sun came out. No one had seen proper sunlight like that in weeks, but there the sun was in all of it's golden glory. People left their hiding places to bask in its warm rays and once again, hope was restored back to the people.

"They knew it was a sign that the worst times were finally over, and that life will once again be peaceful and joyful like it had been in the past," Phil said. He didn't know how true this story was, but his grandpa had told it to him and he told it to Dan, who loved it so much.

"Do you think that will ever happen in our time?" Dan thought out loud.

"Hard to say, but there's no harm in dreaming," Phil said, drifting off to sleep. Dan chuckled a bit and closed his eyes too. Phil always said that at the end of the story. 

And the two of them slept, like they always did. Sleep off the day and prepare for the next.


End file.
